Cathbarr O'Donnell (Irish: Cathbarr Ó Domhnaill, c. 1583 - 15 September 1608)[1] was an Irish nobleman and member of the O'Donnell dynasty of Tyrconnell.
Born c. 1583, Cathbarr was the son of Sir Aodh mac Maghnusa Ó Domhnaill (Sir Hugh McManus O'Donnell), An Ó Domhnaill (The O'Donnell), the ruler of Tyrconnell during the Elizabethan era. His mother was Sir Aodh's Scottish second wife, Iníon Dubh.
Cathbarr's elder half-brother, Sir Domhnaill Ó Domhnaill, was a dynastic rival of Cathbarr's elder full brother, Aodh Ruadh Ó Domhnaill II (Red Hugh O'Donnell II), in the lengthy Ó Domhnaill succession dispute until Sir Domhnaill's death at the Battle of Doire Leathan in September 1590. Aodh Ruadh II (Red Hugh II) became head of the Ó Domhnaill dynasty in 1592. Cathbarr supported his elder brother during Tyrone's Rebellion (1594–1603). In 1602, another elder brother, Rory, succeeded Aodh Ruadh and made peace with the Crown. The following year, Rory was made Earl of Tyrconnell.
Cathbarr married Rosa O'Doherty, the sister of Sir Cathaoir Ó Dochartaigh (Sir Cahir O'Doherty), Lord of Inishowen, who fought on the Crown's side during Tyrone's rebellion but later launched O'Doherty's Rebellion by burning Derry. In 1607, Cathbarr and Rosa accompanied Rory in the Flight of the Earls to Continental Europe. The following year, Cathbarr and Rory both died of fever in Italian exile and the leadership of the O'Donnells passed to Rory's young son.[4]
After Cathbarr's death, Rosa remarried to the Irish soldier Owen Roe O'Neill. Cathbarr's son with Rosa, Hugh O'Donnell became a Captain in the Spanish Army, serving in his stepfather's regiment in Flanders. He was killed in 1625 during the Siege of Breda.[5]
In a letter dated 31 January 1591, O'Neill references Siobhán's recent death.[lower-roman 5]
Her death date has alternately been given as 1639, 26 April 1640, or sometime after 31 March 1642.[lower-roman 5]
According to the English officials who wrote the Calendar of State Papers, Hugh Roe personally killed Niall Garve's four-year-old son (also his own nephew)[lower-roman 48]
Gráinne is known only as a sister of the Earl (i.e., Rory), with no additional information.[lower-roman 59]
Citations
Concannon, p. 218-219 "Siobhan was probably the eldest of the family, and must have been born not later than 1569." "We know little of Siobhan, who can hardly have been more than one-and- twenty, when she died in 1590."
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004, p. 511-512
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 2004, p. 839
Mosley, Charles, editor. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage, 107th edition, 3 volumes. Wilmington, Delaware, U.S.: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 2003.
Hill 1873, page 222. "Sir Randal Macdonnell was married about the year 1604 to Ellis or Alice O'Neill, the third daughter of Hugh earl of Tyrone. This lady, who was born in 1583, was in her twenty-first year at the time of her marriage, and was younger than either of her sisters, lady Macmahon or Lady Maginnis. She was older than her brother Hugh, the baron of Dungannon."
Cokayne 1910. "[The 1st Earl of Antrim] m., 1604, Alice, da. of Hugh (O'Neill), Earl of Tyrone [I], by his 2nd wife, Joanna, da. of Hugh McManus O'Donnell."
Cokayne 1910. "[The 1st Earl of Antrim] m., 1604, Alice, da. of Hugh (O'Neill), Earl of Tyrone [I], by his 2nd wife, Joanna, da. of Hugh McManus O'Donnell."
Concannon, p. 218 "The inscription on the tomb in San Pietro in Montorio shows that her eldest child, Hugh, was born in 1585."
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459: "..he died unmarried on the 23rd of September, 1609, aged twenty-four... and was buried in the church of St. Peter's in Montorio..."
Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 1867, p. 459
Ó Domhnaill, Niall; Na Glúnta Rosannacha (1952), page 87
Annals of the Four Masters: "1590: ...the son of O'Donnell himself, who, being unable to display prowess or defend himself, was slain at Doire-leathan, on one side of the harbour of Telinn, on the 14th of September."
Annals of the Four Masters: "1602:...O'Donnell should take the disease of his death and the sickness of his dissolution; and, after lying seventeen days on the bed, he died, on the 10th of September, in the house which the King of Spain himself had at that town (Simancas)...""
Silke 2006 "Hugh Albert O'Donnell, born [to Rory and Bridget] about October 1606, was the only son of this marriage, Mary Stuart O'Donnell being born about a year later."
Bagwell 1895 "About ninety persons sailed with the earls, among whom were Tyrconnel's son Hugh, aged eleven months..."
Ulwencreutz, Lars (2013), Ulwencreutz's The Royal Families in Europe V, Lulu.com, p. 136, ISBN 978-1-304-58135-8 "Hugh O'Donnell, 2nd Earl of Tyrconnell (1606-1642) Prince and Lord of Tryconnell".
Casway 2009. Casway gives her birthdate as c. 1575
Concannon, p. 218 "O'Clery tells us that Nuala was already married to Niall Garbh in 1592. This will place her birth-year with some degree of probability about 1577 — not later."
Knox 2002, p. 26. In contrast to Concannon, Knox believes Nuala was Rory's older sister.
O'Sullivan Beare 2008. Philip O'Sullivan Beare notes that Manus's death (October 1600) occurred shortly after Nuala and Niall separated.
Annals of the Four Masters: "1608: Niall Garv O'Donnell, with his brothers Hugh Boy and Donnell, and his son, Naghtan, were taken prisoners about the festival of St. John in this year."
McGurk, John (2006). Sir Henry Docwra, 1564-1631: Derry's Second Founder. Four Courts Press. p. 93–95.
Concannon, p. 218 "Manus may have been born about 1579 or 1580. He was old enough to play a man's part in the battle in which he met his death at the hands of Niall Garbh (A.D. 1600)" Lughaidh Ó Cléirigh names the sons in the order of their birth: Hugh Roe, Ruairi, Manus and Cathbar.
Gallogy, Dan (1963). "Brian Oge O'Rourke and the Nine Years War". Breifne Journal. 2: 194–195.
Casway, Jerrold (1988). "The Last Lords of Leitrim: The Sons of Teige O'Rourke". Breifne Journal. VII: 561–562.
O'Donnell, Eunan; Reflection on the Flight of the Earls; Donegal Annual, Bliainiris Dhún na nGall, Journal of the County Donegal Historical Society, No. 58 (2006); pp. 31-44.
- McCavitt, John (2002). The Flight of the Earls. Gill & MacMillan.